Last night was a prime example, I think, of the problem of playing a goalkeeper who has not made a start in months. Horvath was caught positionally sleeping. I cannot blame Reggie Cannon for that.
Vehemently disliked it when Weah was taken off for Arriola, and it had nothing to do with the red card Arriola was shown later.
I would like to see CCV on the WC roster over the likes of Mark McKenzie (and I say that as a Philly Union fan).
If Musah, who is still a teenager, can just develop a final ball/finishing touch, he's going to eventually be purchased by a very big-time club.
While I do not think Jordan Morris brings enough to the table to warrant a WC roster spot (barring injuries), he is apparently is an assassin when it comes to the CNL and deserves to be called up for every USMNT Nations League squad for the foreseeable future.
Missed an opportunity this window to try another starter at taking corner kicks.
Overall, however, there was not much you can take from a game like that other than seeing who shows grit, heart, and perseverance.
I don't really know what to take from last night's game, but I have some general impressions overall:
I'm worried about keeper. Horvath, Steffen and Turner are all going to be backups next year. We don't have a GK1 who will be starting games in the run-up to the World Cup.
I'm worried that Berhalter thinks Aaron Long is the heir presumptive with Walker Zimmerman. Objectively, he's awful at distribution and average at ball-winning. He's neither fast nor dominant in the air. I don't see a clear best option, but I have CCV ahead of him, but doubt that Berhalter does.
One player who seems to be getting better over every 6 month period is Yunus Musah.
Brendan Aaronson is better against better teams. He's a European style guy. Throw him into a brawl and he's not very effective. His passing range in the middle isn't great and he's not going to win duels in games where physical strength matters more than anything else.
Luca Delatorre had the best overall window of anyone in the pool. It's not a coincidence it was his cross for the winner. He's the best passer in the pool (barring perhaps Reyna) and he makes a positive difference everytime he plays.
Wes looked like his old self last night. We need that. Overall he didn't do much this window.
Morris is not fast anymore and he's never been skilled. But he is strong, and as anyone who's played in enough of them knows, physical strength carries the day on a muddy field (I don't know why, it just does). Nice cameo from him last night, although I think he also benefitted from DLT coming on. Otherwise pretty bad window for him, but I promise last night was enough for Berhalter to keep him around.
Haji should feel hard done by. He didn't get much of a chance this window. He wasn't terrible last night -- the problem was a lack of progressive passing.
Which brings me to Tyler Adams who, honestly, is a little bit of a problem right now. Defensively he's fine, but he just doesn't do anything with the ball. There were several times last night when the game was calling for a switch of fields, or a long diagonal, and the ball was at Adams' feet, and instead he recycled it. He's also not getting enough game time at Leipzig. If I was picking an ideal middle three right now I'd go Musah, Wes, and DLT. Controversial take, I know.
Right back is a big problem without Dest, or behind Dest. Cannon got a big look this window and he hovered between replacement level and awful. When I'm missing Yedlin, something has gone wrong. I guess Scalley had a knock or something, or maybe he was just so bad against Morocco and Uruguay? anyway, behind Robinson and Dest it gets pretty dire, pretty quickly. Hell, we have questions at one CB spot (although I think Richards or CCV can do ok there), questions at keeper (it's a big deal that our top 3 are bench guys), and almost no effective depth at outside back.
Antonee Robinson isn't giving us anything going forward right now, but his physicality, attitude and athleticism are still big value adds. He needs a vacation.
Yunus Musah is going to be the best player to ever put on a US jersey in 3 or 4 years, barring injury. He's fast, strong, confident, and you can see him finding his shot. Was pretty unlucky not to have a couple of goals last night and you can see him pick up and carry the team through rough moments. So much ******* talent. When he finds his passing range, and he will, watch the **** out.
Pulisic isn't what he was pre-injury, but when he stays in his space and doesn't try to hero ball, he's also the biggest match winner in the side. You can see him get frustrated when the game around him isn't working, and that's when he drifts into other people's spaces. Last night in the first half, when the Aaronson at CM experiment was failing, CP started dropping way too deep -- which pushed BA higher, and made the gap in the middle worse because CP does NOT defend.
Tim Weah is consistently solid and produces big chances playing like a traditional winger. He's not world class and probably won't be, but he's big, fast and confident. Automatic starter for me.
Arriola will be on the plane I guess, and he's generally got some value because of his work rate, but he's such a technical liability. The link-up passing fell apart when he came in for Weah, even before he got the red card (some arguments on whether it was deserved, but the tackle looked pretty bad and he'd lost his head after not getting the call a few seconds earlier -- veterans cannot do that ****). I'm not a fan. If I'm making my list of first choice wide players it's Pulisic, Weah, Reyna (assuming he ever gets back), Aaronson (he can play in the middle, I'm not sure he should) and then about 2 levels down is Arriola, and a level below him is Morris.
Scalley probably isn't going to the World Cup. Shaq Moore probably is, and he might have had the best camp of anyone by not being in camp because his team was still playing.
George Bello just seems like a JAG.
I'm relieved Busio wasn't in this camp. I don't have room for him. Maybe he makes a leap eventually, but his limited athleticism gives him a lower ceiling.
Ferreira is our best striker right now, but he's not great by any means. He's not fast and he's not going to win headers. Limited utility as a field stretcher or a hold up guy. Not a great finisher either. But he is technical and he does generally keep the ball moving.
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